News that a Second Amendment Rights Section is set to open within the Department of Justice’s (DOJ’s) Civil Rights Division has some gun rights activists cautiously optimistic but doubtful that the office will do much.
According to a Nov. 25 report by Reuters, the new office is expected to open on Dec. 4 and implement policies outlined in an executive order issued by President Donald Trump on Feb. 7. Trump directed Attorney General Pam Bondi to review gun policies set between 2021 and 2025 to “assess any ongoing infringements” of gun rights, according to the order.
Two of the Trump administration’s first acts were to rescind the Biden administration’s “Zero Tolerance Policy.” Under that policy, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF) shut down federally licensed gun dealers for minor clerical errors, as well as more serious violations.
Trump also closed the White House Office of Gun Violence Prevention and stopped government agencies from addressing firearms as a public health issue.
The DOJ also filed suit against the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department on Sept. 30 for allegedly dragging its feet on concealed weapons permit applications.
A National Rifle Association (NRA) official hailed these actions and said the new office is long overdue.
“For years, progressive politicians in blue states have run roughshod over the rights of lawful citizens. Now ... the [U.S.] government will play a proactive role in challenging these unconstitutional laws to ensure the rights of Americans are restored,” John Commerford, executive director of the NRA Institute for Legislative Action, wrote in an email to The Epoch Times.
The DOJ did not respond to a request for comment by publication time.
President Trump speaks at the National Rifle Association (NRA) meeting at the Kay Bailey Hutchison Convention Center in Dallas on May 18, 2024. (Madalina Vasiliu/The Epoch Times)
Bondi vowed to uphold the right to keep and bear arms in an April 8 memo announcing a “Second Amendment Task Force.”
“As [Trump] explained, the ‘Second Amendment is an indispensable safeguard of security and liberty,’ because it ‘is foundational to maintaining all of the rights held by Americans,’” Bondi wrote.
Gun control groups have decried the Trump administration’s gun policies. None of the groups responded to requests for comment by publication time.
However, they have made their positions clear online.
Everytown for Gun Safety, founded in 2006 by former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, issued a report predicting the impact of rescinding the ATF’s zero-tolerance policy. According to Everytown, criminals will have easier access to guns.
Michael Bloomberg at a press conference after a gun smuggling arrest of 19 people in New York on Aug. 19, 2013. (Mark Lennihan/AP)
“The Trump administration’s decision to repeal the ‘zero tolerance’ policy is a win for the gun industry—one that will undoubtedly result in more guns in dangerous hands,” said Nick Suplina, senior vice president of Law & Policy at Everytown for Gun Safety.
Second Amendment activists agree with gun control proponents that Trump has been the most gun-friendly president in decades.
William Kirk, a Second Amendment lawyer and the host of a pro-gun YouTube channel, said that this includes previous Republican presidents.
He pointed out that the Trump administration has filed amicus briefs in key Supreme Court cases, as well as filed its Los Angeles lawsuit.
On the other hand, Kirk said previous presidents—including Republicans—set the bar so low that it doesn’t take much to be considered “pro-Second Amendment.”
President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris walk to an event on gun violence in the East Room of the White House on Sept. 26, 2024. (Saul Loeb/AFP)
“When they say, ‘Hey, we’re the most pro-2A Department of Justice in the history of the country, they’re right. But the competition is so thin that it’s like being the tallest munchkin,” Kirk told The Epoch Times.
Other Second Amendment proponents agree. They say most of Trump’s Second Amendment policies took advantage of low-hanging fruit while the administration hesitated on more substantive actions or supported gun control.
The new office was recommended by the Firearms Policy Coalition during Trump’s first term. Brandon Combs, the organization’s president, praised the move in an online statement, with one caveat.
“If this new section is led by genuine Second Amendment litigation experts, faithfully grounded in the original public meaning of the Constitution, and fully coordinated with the groups and firms already driving the long-term strategy, this could be a significant step forward for the fight for liberty and the right to keep and bear arms,” Combs said.
However, the coalition’s statement listed instances in which the administration failed to support the Second Amendment. These include lawsuits in which the DOJ allegedly supported gun control measures and the DOJ’s response to Congress’s attempt to neuter the National Firearms Act (NFA).
The second amendment is spelled on a U.S. flag above a display of firearms in a gun store in Rio Rico, Ariz., on Sept. 17, 2025. (Charly Triballeau/AFP)
The One Big Beautiful Bill Act, signed into law by Trump earlier this year, reduced the NFA’s excise tax on suppressors, short-barreled rifles, short-barreled shotguns, and a category labeled “any other weapon” from $200 to $0.
However, the items must still be registered under the NFA.
The Firearms Policy Coalition was a party in one of two lawsuits filed last summer claiming the tax reduction neutralizes the NFA’s taxing authority, making it an illegal firearms registry. The DOJ responded that a $0 tax is still a tax, so the NFA’s requirements are still valid.
“A few positive steps inside the DOJ don’t outweigh the broader pattern of hostility toward the Second Amendment,” Erich Pratt, senior vice president for Gun Owners of America, wrote in a message to The Epoch Times.
Kirk said there is only one thing for gun owners to do.
“Just wait and see [what the office does] and recognize that it’s going to be like a mediocre Christmas with them,” Kirk said. “You’re going to appreciate most of the stuff you got under the tree, but you’re going to be wondering where some of the stuff was.”
