As a gun owner, a 2nd Amendment absolutist, and an active voter, I’m not all that excited by Trump’s victory. I’ll concede that Trump seems to care less about guns than Harris, but I’m not excited for gun rights during a Trump presidency. Are they safer with Trump than Harris? Yeah, probably. But is a baby safer on the edge of a building or the edge of a counter? If you’re a 2nd Amendment advocate, then the thing you absolutely cannot do is rest.
Trump and Gun Rights
During 45th’s first term, we didn’t see much in the advancement of gun rights. He talked a big game in 2016, 2020, and 2024, but we only have four years we can judge him. In those four years, we know that he threatened to veto H.R. 8, a universal background check bill. Another was H.R. 112, which was a bill that expanded the time the FBI had to conduct background checks.
The bills went nowhere. The President also showed support for red flag laws, famously stating, “Take the guns first, go through due process second.” He signaled that he might support universal background checks and stated he didn’t like suppressors. Most famously, he passed a ban on bump stocks via executive fiat and overturned the ATF’s long-standing opinion that bump stocks weren’t machine guns.
Trump’s biggest contribution to the 2nd Amendment was appointing Supreme Court Judges. That delivered the Bruen decision, overturning decades of gun control efforts. That’s great, but that’s an indirect action and not something he gets full credit for.
Trump did nothing to restore gun rights, which, to be fair, isn’t necessarily the job of the President. Congress has to write laws for him to sign, but he didn’t seem to champion the restoration of gun rights. There was no movement on the NFA, the Hughes Amendment, universal reciprocity, etc. The main benefit of having him in office is the fact the ATF will go back to hiding in their cave.
Not Just Trump
Let’s be fair. I’m not saying this is just a Trump problem. It’s a Republican problem. Republicans, in general, uphold the status quo when it comes to guns on the Federal level. All they intend to do is resist gun control but never undo it. If we are lucky, we get a Bush Jr. who lets things sunset.
Republicans pay lip service to the 2nd Amendment at most, especially Presidents. If Trump has the White House, The Senate, and the House of Reps, they could easily repeal and restore gun rights. We could kill the NFA, the GCA, and the Hughes Amendment. We could gain National Reciprocity, allow you to buy guns over state lines, etc.
Will they do that? Probably not. The problem the Republican party has with the 2nd Amendment is that Republicans know gun owners don’t have any other choice. Democrats are openly hostile to the right to keep and bear arms. Without much of a choice, Republicans think gun owners should be happy with the lip service they receive. I don’t think Trump has any strong feelings about guns, but he’s a populist, and we need to put it on his radar.
No More
We, as gun owners and 2nd Amendment advocates, can no longer sit back and relax during Republican presidencies. We have to make them eat their promises. We have to be annoying and have to be a gnat buzzing around in their ear. We need to be the squeaky wheel that gets the grease.
Did a supposed 2nd Amendment candidate win in your state? Great, come January 21st, they should have an inbox full of emails asking what they are going to do for the 2nd Amendment. When are we repealing the NFA? When does the Hearing Protection Act get in front of a committee? Why aren’t these things happening?
Republicans can’t get away with just paying lip service, and to be honest, they should want to do more. Eventually, Democrats are going to figure out that guns are a losing issue. There are lots of single-issue voters in the gun world, and when the Dems learn that there are no single-issue gun control Democrats, they’ll shut up about it, and Republicans will be in trouble.
Let’s get our rights back in the next two years, or at the very least, become a fly they can’t swat. Demand more from your elected representatives.
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