Last week, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) formally announced the creation of a Second Amendment Task Force with Attorney General Pam Bondi declaring, “It is the policy of the Department of Justice to use its full might to protect the Second Amendment rights of law-abiding citizens.” Bondi noted that for far too long, the Second Amendment has been treated as a second-class right. The newly assigned duties of this DOJ task force will help bolster NRA’s ongoing efforts that are similarly working to execute strategies, litigation, and robust policy to protect and promote Second Amendment rights nationwide. In a memorandum sent to all DOJ employees, Bondi acknowledged what we already knew too well: “The prior administration placed an undue burden on gun owners and vendors by targeting law-abiding citizens exercising their 2nd Amendment rights.”
This laser-focused leadership from the Trump administration on Second Amendment rights will augment NRA’s continued work on critical matters in the state and federal legislatures as well as in the courts. NRA continues to be on the frontlines of many legal challenges working to undo the Biden-Harris era efforts. DOJ would be a welcome ally, should it choose to weigh in on these cases.
Just last week, NRA filed an amicus brief with the U.S. Supreme Court urging the Court to review an unconstitutional magazine ban, in a case out of the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals. It is imperative that the U.S. Supreme Court enforce the proper test for evaluating Second Amendment claims as established in New York State Rifle & Pistol, Ass’n v. Bruen.
NRA continues the work to undo various other unconstitutional laws, including those that abridge the rights of young adults and their ability to possess and carry firearms. NRA recently filed a new lawsuit challenging a ban on possession and carry of handguns and semi-automatic firearms by adults under 21.
Litigation and legislative efforts at the state level also stand to benefit from this administration realignment from persecution to protection. We previously reported on Attorney General Bondi’s comments stating that her office could open DOJ investigations in “any … state or localities that insist on unduly burdening, or effectively denying, the Second Amendment rights of their ordinary, law-abiding citizens.”
Alongside legislative efforts nationwide, NRA remains active in state litigation, such as with a recently filed lawsuit in Colorado challenging Colorado’s 6.5% excise tax on the retail sale of firearms, firearm precursor parts, and ammunition which took effect on April 1. The tax is levied on vendors, but the amount is passed through to law-abiding Coloradans every time they purchase such constitutionally protected items.
NRA looks forward to monitoring and reporting on these anticipated positive developments from Attorney General Bondi’s DOJ and the newly formed Second Amendment Task Force. The Biden-Harris Administration’s ani-gun legacy will no doubt keep the Task Force busy.
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