President Donald Trump on Friday took his first executive action on firearms, backing up his campaign promises to protect the Second Amendment rights of American gun owners.
“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,” the executive order begins. “Because it is foundational to maintaining all other rights held by Americans, the right to keep and bear arms must not be infringed.”
Part of the action involved Trump charging Attorney General Pam Bondi with examining current laws that might be infringing on Americans’ right to keep and bear arms.
“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,” the order stated.
The order mentioned a number of specific actions Bondi should address, including 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, rules promulgated by the Department of Justice (DOJ), including by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF), from January 2021 through January 2025 pertaining to firearms and/or federal firearms licensees, agencies’ plans, orders and actions regarding the so-called ‘enhanced regulatory enforcement policy’ pertaining to firearms and/or federal firearms licensees, and reports and related documents issued by the White House Office of Gun Violence Prevention.
Once the reviews are completed and a plan of action is established, the executive order calls for establishing an implementation of the plan to do away with any infringements.
Of course, gun-rights groups and others in the industry were pleased with President Trump taking action as he had promised during the campaign. Those groups included Gun Owners of America (GOA), which had just called on its members to remind Trump of his 2A promises.
“By planning to dismantle Biden’s anti-gun agenda and rein in the ATF, President Trump is making good on his word to protect and defend the Second Amendment,” Erich Pratt, GOA senior vice president, said in a news release. “The ATF has been weaponized for too long against law-abiding Americans, and it’s past time to rein in this rogue agency. GOA looks forward to working with this administration to restore and expand gun rights across the country.”
The powerful National Shooting Sports Association (NSSF), the firearm industry trade association, also applauded President Trump for addressing the 2A mess the Biden Administration left behind.
“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 general counsel and senior vice president for government and public affairs. “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.”
Keane added that with President Trump’s executive order to investigate various infringements, those days are now behind us.
“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.”
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